Surf Air Takes Off for Santa Barbara

It took months for Surf Air's all-you-can-fly airline to get off the ground, but now that its planes are flying, the Santa Monica company is already expanding its service.

Surf Air announced Wednesday that it has added flights to and from Santa Barbara.

The company now has a morning and evening flight leaving Burbank airport – its L.A. hub – for Santa Barbara each day. After a stop at the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, the flights continue to the San Carlos Airport in Silicon Valley. They then complete the same route in reverse.

Wade Eyerly, Surf Air's co-founder and chief executive, said the tech community in Santa Barbara will also benefit from daily flights to the Bay Area.

"It's a good business town," he said on the phone from the Santa Barbara Airport. "As we're connecting the tech communities, it would be a mistake to overlook them."

Surf Air launched last month as a subscription flight service focused on connecting the tech communities in California. It charges a monthly fee of $1,650 for unlimited flights on its commuter jets.

The startup graduated from the MuckerLab accelerator program in Spring 2012, but was slowed down by the federal approval process.

The company currently employs 24 full-time pilots. Eyerly said Surf Air did not expand its fleet when it added service to Santa Barbara.

Surf Air plans to expand into other cities in California in the coming months. The company's website lists plans to bring service to Monterey, Palm Springs, San Diego, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe and the Sonoma/Napa area.